Taiwan produces a rich variety of teas, including green tea, semi-fermented tea, and black tea. However, semi-fermented tea (oolong tea) remains the most widely produced, accounting for over 90% of Taiwan’s total tea output. Broken down by variety, Taiwanese tea mainly falls into the following categories:
Strip-style Pouchong Tea: Commonly known as Pouchong tea, this is a semi-fermented tea. Its main production area is the Wenshan region in northern Taiwan, which includes Muzha and Nangang in Taipei, as well as Xizhi, Xindian, Shiding, and Pinglin in New Taipei City. Pinglin has the highest output.
Ball-style Pouchong: Commonly known as oolong tea, this is a semi-fermented tea that makes up 70% of Taiwan’s total tea production. The main producing areas are Nantou County, Taichung City, and Chiayi County. The most famous variety is Dongding Oolong Tea. Traditionally roasted over charcoal with a medium to heavy roast, recent years have seen a growing popularity for lightly roasted or unroasted High Mountain Teas. Well-known ball-style Pouchong teas include Dongding Oolong, High Mountain Tea, and Winter Sprout Oolong, among others.
Oriental Beauty Tea: Commonly known as Pong Fong tea, this is a semi-fermented tea. Its main production areas include Pinglin and Shiding in New Taipei City, Hsinchu, Miaoli, and parts of Nantou and Taichung. It is a semi-fermented tea with a heavier fermentation level.
Taiwanese Tieguanyin Tea: A semi-fermented tea mainly produced in the Muzha district of Taipei and the Shimen district of New Taipei City. Production volume is relatively small.
Green tea is an unfermented tea. The main production area for Taiwanese green tea is the Sanxia District in New Taipei City. The more famous varieties are Taiwanese Longjing tea and Taiwanese Biluochun green tea, though production volumes are relatively small.
Black tea is a fully fermented tea. The main production areas are Nantou County, Hualien County, New Taipei City, and Chiayi County. Well-known varieties include Honey Black Tea and SunMoon Lake Black Tea. Taiwanese black tea production is higher than that of green tea, but far lower than that of semi-fermented tea.
Taiwanese tea is predominantly semi-fermented, with semi-spherical Pouchong tea (Oolong tea) accounting for 70% of total production. Consequently, semi-spherical Pouchong tea is sometimes further categorized into lowland Oolong tea and high-mountain Oolong tea. The general distinction is based on an altitude of 1,000 meters, with teas grown above 1,000 meters classified as high-mountain tea. The characteristic features of high-mountain tea are typically light fermentation with light roasting, or light fermentation with no roasting at all.